Don't Fear The Shadows It Only Means There Is Light Nearby
by Witchr
Summary: Pitch is back with a new plan, one that needs a little spark to succeed. It's up to the Guardians to stop him but first they have to retrieve the "spark" which is in the possession of the elusive Guardian of Imagination. Will the Guardians stop Pitch before it's too late or has the Guardian of Fun finally met his match?
1. Chapter 1

It's been exactly two months since Easter and since the Guardians had destroyed Pitch Black. Since the summer months had never been Jack's forte, he and North have been staying at the North Pole. In all honesty Jack missed the excitement of oppressing doom and all that stuff, now he has to look forward to helping North. So far all he's really done is play a few pranks on the Yetis or visit Jamie when he can. But North says it's not good to make a habit of visiting children and allowing them to see you outside of your holiday or season.

"Jack!" The strong bellow caused Jack to fall off of his cold bed. Taking a hand he rubbed his snow crested head in an attempt to soothe the pain. Quickly he grabbed his staff and zipped down the stairs to North's workshop. He managed to avoid running into the working Yetis and underfoot Elves along the way. Only to run into North's LARGE belly and bounce slightly backwards nearly tripping over two elves playing with a discarded toy train.. A booming, holly laugh rang out, "Jack good morning! I trust you slept well."

Jack smiled softly as North's big blue eyes peered down at him, glittering with joy, "Yeah I slept fine, I was just about to go mess with Bunny since he's got the day off and everything." Another hearty laugh and Jack couldn't help but smile wider at the friendly giant. Seeing a snow globe resting on a nearby wooden table in the corner of his eye Jack reached for it, stowing it deep within his jacket pocket.

"Alright see ya Santa!" As he turned to leave a large hand picked him up by his hood.

"And where are you going Jack?"

Nervously he laughed, "Umm... well I was gonna go visit Bunny remember?"

"Oh yes, but wait Jack I have to tell you..." North released the small Winter Spirit and started again .

"Well, see you later!"

Before he could finish Jack was on his staff and zooming off, when he was far off from the workshop he shook the snow globe and whispered, "Jamie's house."

Tossing it forward, causing a small explosion of color, the blurred image of a house in sunshine made him smile to himself, and he sped off into the portal.

Within seconds he was outside, underneath the blazing sun, in front of the same house from the snow globe. Carefully with one foot in front of the other Jack balanced on his wooden staff and rose up with a blast of cold air to the bedroom window he knew to be Jamie's. As he peeked through, Jack was surprised to see Jamie's little sister instead, he lightly tapped on the window to receive a toothy grin.

"Jack! Jack Frost!"

"Shh, hey kiddo. Do you know where Jamie is?" Jack questioned the scruffy child.

"Jamie went to the park!" Sophie exclaimed with a happy giggle.

"Okay, thanks see ya later."

Jack zoomed off towards the park in search of Jamie, it took only two minutes to get to the park but the heat was going to drive him crazy. He's Jack FROST, he doesn't do heat. As he neared the park he could already see Jamie playing near the pond. He couldn't wait to see Jamie, pulling down into a steep, free fall he came dangerously close to the pool's surface. With a quick maneuver Jack let his staff come into contact with the pond's surface, instantly freezing the water.

"Jack Frost!" Cried a small boy with untidy brunette locks and big curious eyes. Jack smiled as he gracefully skated across the now frozen pond to Jamie.

"Hey Jamie, it's been a while." Jack greeted the young boy familiarly.

"I thought Santa didn't want you visiting me anymore." The small boy looked up at the older white haired boy sadly, Jack couldn't stand seeing anyone sad even when he was human. "No, he... Uh, just wanted me to help out around the workshop more." He replied hesitantly. It managed to reassure Jamie back to his smiling ways.

"Oh, well I'm glad you came anyway. Hey, wanna visit the Easter Bunny or maybe go to the North Pole or we could have a snowball fight! A snowball fight in June, that'd be so awesome!" Jack couldn't help but chuckle at Jamie's suggestions. Playfully he rubbed Jamie's head, but the cold that he always produced caused Jamie to shiver. Sheepishly he removed his hand, "Sorry Jamie, but I can only stay for a little bit I've got to get back to the North Pole soon."

"Oh." It was sad to see Jamie's happiness disappear so quickly.

"Don't worry I'll visit again but I've got something for you."Immediately he perked up as Jack reached into his pocket to bring out a red robot.

"Cool!" Jamie said excitedly. Jamie soon became absorbed in his new toy when a strange heat flare surrounded him. A long mane of fiery red hair slashed in front of him and with a blink it disappeared.

"Come on Jamie let's go do something." Said Jack, suspiciously he looked around to see who had walked by him.

He still felt a little on edge but dismissed the event entirely and focused his attention on the small boy's happiness. He and Jamie spent the rest of the day playing and causing mischief around the park, laughing as they went. In little time the sun was beginning to set, and Jack took Jamie back home. When Jamie was safely inside a large sled appeared out of nowhere in the front yard.

"Jack Frost!" The angry bellow of a familiar voice made Jack feel slightly skittish, his eyes never focusing on one thing for very long in an attempt to avoid the inevitable. As he made his way towards the sleigh he was greeted by a furious, practically red in the face, North sputtering angrily as he approached.

"I told-I warned you! Your place-you shouldn't- is not here! I-I cannot believe this! If you had met-!" North continued to sputter in rage at Jack.

"North, chill I-."

"No, NO! I told you! I specifically told you not to! You lied to me Jack Frost!" North managed to calm his shouts and climb on to his sleigh with a deep growl.

"Frost!" Reluctantly Jack followed the angry man into the sleigh and back through the portal to the North Pole.

They arrived shortly in the same hall where Jack was officially recognized as the Guardian of Fun. The Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and Sandman already there waiting, standing above their respected symbol embedded within the floor, the carvings depicting both the man on the moon and the Guardians as ageless. Jack turned to catch North's eye but the large man's face was stony and uninviting. Tooth waved with a gentle smile and Jack half-heartedly returned her greeting before moving to stand beside Bunny's tall frame. Finally, North spoke, his authoritative tone masking his emotions, "The Man in the Moon has spoken once again... another threat approaches us in the future."

"You're kidding right? We just defeated Pitch two months ago! I think we deserve a vacation." Jack commented.

"Sorry to ruin your little fantasy but that's not in the job description, don't like it then quit!" Jack looked to see the annoyed and furry expression on Bunny's face.

"Bet you'd like that you little cotton-tailed-" Jack retorted but was cut off by the large Moon that had now revealed itself.

A beam of moonlight drifted into the center of the room displaying an eery event, blue moonlight swallowed the Guardians' full attention.

Jack watched as Pitch appeared behind some figure, his long spidery fingers resting on their shoulder in a guiding manner, like a master encouraging his apprentice. The person opened their mouth and black fire spewed from their lips, the fire continued to flood from the mouth without end. Obsidian flames wrapping around the world like a dark cloak.

Tooth gasped and Bunny looked skittish, Jack remained confused, who was that person?

"North, she couldn't-." Tooth spoke in a quavering voice. Sandy frowned slightly to himself. "We haven't seen her in two and a half centuries what if-." Tooth's words began to falter.

"Who are you talking about? Who was that in the vision? Do you know them?" No one responded.

But soon Bunny cautiously spoke, " The person you saw with Pitch was, we can only assume, Fira Blaze." He stopped and Tooth continued,

"I know you two have never met probably because-," North gave her a stern look and Tooth continued. "She is... Your polar opposite."

"I've never heard of Fira Blaze. Not ever." said Jack in a confused tone.

"She prefers it that way, she chooses to not let children see her. She only leaves her home during the summer months and then disappears for the rest of the year." As Tooth informed Jack the rest of the Guardians seemed to be holding silent conversations with their eyes, leaving Jack in the dark.

As Jack thought back he couldn't recall anyone ever mentioning a Fira Blaze, not even Cupid, who was a big gossip, had mentioned any Fira before.

"Why is she working with Pitch?", Jack looked around the room waiting for someone to answer.

"We don't know if she is, this is only a prophecy." Tooth began to nervously fiddle with her slim fingers .

"Then if she isn't working with Pitch we can just tell her about the prophecy. Let's go then." As he started to look around for a snow globe he gave an annoyed sigh realizing there was one still in his pocket.

"We can't use a snow globe to get there Jack." Bunny stated dryly.

"Why?" Asked Jack.

"Well ummm, you see no one actually knows where she lives." North replied uncomfortably even Bunny did a nervous (and annoying) foot tapping.

He couldn't believe this, these guys have been around for centuries and they didn't know where this Blaze person was? They must at least how she two and from her realm.

"How is it possible that you don't know where she lives?" Jack asked aloud, each of the guardians began to look at the ground sheepishly.

"Well she doesn't like other people... So uh-." An embarrassed Tooth replied softly.

"Plus when she first arrived she couldn't remember anything so someone sent her to Tooth and Tooth totally blew her off." Retorted Bunny in an accusatory way. Jack looked over at Tooth, astounded.

"It was a mistake I was so busy, teeth were coming in by the thousands!"

"Well, now Fira Blaze doesn't like us all very much!" Replied Bunny sarcastically.

"Karma at its best." North commented.

Then a blast of glittering sand swept in front of everyone's eyes. They all turned to look at Sandy who seemed to have been trying to get their attention for sometime. He pointed at the ground, and they watched as sand began to form moving pictures. A blazing haired girl was sitting by herself, the darkness slowly enclosing around her, suffocating a blazing fire. Then Sandy appeared next to her and she began to brighten up chasing away the darkness. Swirls of sand began to form, unveiling the next memory. Sandy was leaving and the girl gave him a small object. As the memory ended everyone looked at Sandy surprised. Fira Blaze didn't like anyone ESPECIALLY Guardians, she'd even cut off all ties with any other magical creatures. It was amazing Sandy even found Fira, but then again where can't dreams travel to?

"Sandy, you know her?" Tooth squeaked in disbelief.

Sandy nodded his head, smiling proudly. He pulled out his hand and sand swirled around it, as it cleared a small flower appeared. It was difficult to tell if it was an actual flower or some type of magic, seeing as the entire flower looked as if had been constructed out of fire.

"She gave you a flower?!" Cried Bunny, exasperatedly.

Sandy shook his head and plucked a flower petal, then he let it fall on to the ground. It sparked into flames ranging from every color, growing larger and brighter. At the roots of the fire, dark black and translucent white flames blended into a hypnotic blue. The blue faded into indigo, then to green, and blends of red, orange, and yellow emerged at the flame's crown. The growing fire was glorious, as bright as the sun and yet as beautiful and serene as moonlight.

Everyone was shocked, but Tooth was terrified! "Put it out! Hurry! By my cuspids! It's gonna burn down the whole North Pole!" She cried in a panic.

Jack prepared to put out the flames but Sandy just shook his head and reached out a hand to touch the fire. He pulled it back, untouched by the flames. Sandy waved his hand for everyone to follow him, then Sandy walked into the flames. North watched apprehensively as Sandy disappeared.

Tooth cried out for Sandy, and Bunny looked about ready to bolt (in the opposite direction). Jack breathed in and walked towards the flames, he was so nervous a thin layer of ice coated his whole skin. "See you in the afterlife!" Jack said jokingly. Then he stepped into the flames, eyes closed.


	2. Chapter 2

He expected some type of heat but the flames were strangely cool. When he finally opened his eyes, the flames were gone and so was the North Pole. They were in a place where earth met sky, beneath a warm sun and clear sky and above solid ground. The floor felt warm and large columns reached above to support the masterly crafted dome. It was like a palace of marble, high in the sky to the point where you could touch the clouds.

Jack looked around cautiously, yet curious about his mystical surroundings. There were little fire pits, with the same vibrant flames as the flower, everywhere. The heat wasn't overbearing, but it was still uncomfortable for a Winter Spirit such as himself.

Other sounds of awe came from behind and Jack knew the Guardians had finally everyone's amazement Sandy was playing with a small winged horse flying around him playfully. The horse whinnied happily, reveling in its' familiar friend's attentions, and danced higher into the air; it's white cerulean wings gliding down on the warm breeze only to climb back up again. As Jack looked around he saw other little creatures around the room. A tiny lion with small leathery wings and spikes trailing down his spine, a small bird with a mouse's face; things right out of his own imagination, alive and happily playing. Then the flames began to get bigger, engulfing the room in heat, and the tiny creatures responded to the thermal increase with excited little chirps and began to zip around the room; and then a joyous squeal sounded in the marble room.

"Sandy, you're back!" What appeared to be a spark zoomed across the room to Sandy, but it was no open flame. It was a girl.

She wrapped her arms around Sandy happily, trying to convey all of her feelings in that single embrace and Sandy returned the gesture with a tender smile. The girl was like a walking flame; sparkling eyes filled with such innocence and creativity. Her hair was bright scarlet with strands of vermillion, and when she turned her head it tricked the eyes into believing her hair was on fire. Her skin was brown as if she'd only ever lived under the sun. The only thing that wasn't red about her was her gold and yellow toga, glittering with a golden solar/lunar pattern stitched into the hem flowing around her feet. Young and regal in a strange way, nothing like Jack had ever seen in anyone he'd encountered in his 300 years.

"Sandy I thought you weren't going to visit until the Autumn Equinox. Never mind that though, I'm so happy you're here! I have so much to tell you." When she finally pulled away from the embrace to begin a recount of her experiences, she saw the rest of them. Sandy cringed and looked at her with pleading eyes. The fire pits around them roared angrily and the flames turned black. Like the flames, her eyes hardened from gold to ebony and her hair began to sizzle as if on fire.

"The Guardians." Her voice was venomous and untrusting. The little creatures who had been playing with Sandman had vanished, leaving behind small burning stones.

"So you know who we are, good! That get's all the awkward introductions out of the way. Nice place you got here, it's very uh… warm." Jack's remark earned him a hard shove from Bunny and a few looks from North.

The fires around them began to morph and change like their mistress, the flamboyant shades now dark, other creatures not like those now hiding as stones began to crawl out. Each looking prepared to kill, these creatures of nightmare brought back memories of past battles with Pitch and his minions. The Guardians tensed and assessed the situation cautiously.

Sandy ran in front of the girl jumping up and down, trying to get her attention. She looked down at him curiously and the creatures disappeared. The fires returned to their original colored form. The little winged horse returned along with all of its' friends unbothered by what had occurred moments ago. Fira looked at the rest of them, then down at Sandy again as if to confirm something.

Then she addressed all of them, "Hello Guardians, what brings you here?" Her tone of voice was flat, with underlying hostility. Jack watched her with an investigating eye as she spoke mainly to Bunny.

North responded, "Only to chat my dear girl." Fira snapped her annoyed gaze upon North.

"Well, forgive me but I don't trust any of you well enough to 'chat'. You're going to have to talk fast, I have work to do." North's blue eyes hardened and met her eyes before speaking again.

"We were curious to see if you had spoken to the man in the moon lately."

The fire girl's hair began to sizzle and was suppressed immediately, "You know better than anyone I have no interest in talking to him." She retorted through clenched teeth.

"It is very urgent." Tooth exclaimed. Fira shot her a malevolent look and the flames became tinged with the same dark obsidian as before. Tooth immediately fell silent under Fira's gaze.

Sandy gave Fira a look of disappointment and her anger began to deflate. Without saying anything it appeared as if she and Sandy were having a debate about something. It was a short argument and Sandy won judging by the girl's reluctant sigh.

"Fine. I will hear what you have to say, then, you will-." She received another look from Sandy. "Join me, please, in the comforts of my keep." The final part was forced and without a word of sincerity. Apprehensively the guardians followed the fiery willed girl as she began to walk towards an open corridor.

In the marble corridors even more creatures danced in small fires that seemed to be littered around every inch of the castle. Tiny faeries made of flames whispered playfully to themselves about the strange guests. Each creature fluttering from a small candle to the next in order to catch a glimpse of the strangers, other creatures fled immediately disappearing into the flames they originated from. Jack watched with masked awe, he'd only seen flames destroy never build or create, but here fire was the source of life.

Unlike before Jack noticed that Fira wasn't as serious as when they first arrived, she happily engaged in conversation with a large horse that bounded towards them. His fur coat was the color of bejeweled sand, and his flowing mane of golden red flames. The large animal curiously stared at Bunny with its' head cocked slightly to the side before trotting off down the hall.

"Ms. Blaze, I see you brought guests without informing me AGAIN! Now how shall I be able to prepare a meal in time?" An exasperated voice cried aloud.

The owner of the voice was a strange bird with a large yellow beak and dark eyes. The bird's feathers were dark as night, but greens and purples danced beneath. The bird strode on its legs carrying itself with the dignity of a peacock, its' size and animated gestures drew in the attention of all.

"Don't be so dramatic Tobias, besides they're no guests." Fira answered coolly.

The strange bird perched upon Fira's shoulder carefully positioning his razor talons to keep from injuring his mistress.

The bird ruffled his feathers and addressed the guardians. "Forgive my lady's manners, she's a fiery one you know. Welcome, honored guests, I am Tobias Longfeather, honored steward of Fira Blaze and the southern sky, at your service! As I live and breathe be it the Guardians of Childhood! Heavens me, this must be an unwell sight to behold, I shall make myself more decent." Gracefully, the dark bird opened his glorious wings to catch the firelight, unveiling the true rainbow within the raven feathers. Gliding down from his perch on Fira's shoulder Tobias ruffled his feathers and fanned out his glittering tail feathers. A dark shadow of violet flames and smoke swirled around the bird, stretching upwards only to fall back to the earth.

Soon, Tobias the bird was no more, and in his place stood the tall mysterious figure of a man. He was slim with dark hair and pale skin, his long nose and dark eyes the only features making appear less than human. Magnificent greens and violets accented his eyes, gems spiraled from the corner of his almond shaped perception to the base of his neck. A kind and humble smile adorned his handsome face as he bowed in a flamboyant, although respectful, gesture. His plum tailcoat fitting his lean physique well and his hospitable nature completed his title as steward appropriately.

It was difficult to tell if Tobias was real or another one of Fira's creations of fire, the later being more believable than the first.

Tobias quickly did an overview of them, and stopped in mid-thought as he recognized the small form that was Sandy.

"By the rising sun in the sky! Master Sandman, it is an honor." Unlike the greeting that the rest of the Guardians had received, Tobias stooped low in greeting, his long nose almost touching the floor. Sandy waved uncomfortably for Tobias to cease such formalities, but the birdlike man was determined to pay his respects.

"Tobias, prepare for a meeting in the library; summon Blon." Tobias quickly arose from his bowing position to carry out Fira's wishes.

"Of course, Miss Blaze." The Guardians watched as Tobias whistled a loud tune to the sky.

"Hurry up now! The mistress has guests, we can't spend all day dilly dallying!" Tobias cried out to no one in particular. As he walked off to some other part of the large house/castle tiny lights seemed to flit around his dark-haired crest.


	3. Chapter 3

When they arrived in the library Jack heard North give a small gasp, the sheer size of the entire room was tremendous but it was the towering shelves that bulged with books and scrolls that were truly impressive. Blue flames around the library kept the room from utter darkness and complimented the moonlight entire library was run by a combined force of owls and strange deer-like animals. Large glass doors took the place of walls and opened out on to a architecturally sound balcony. In the center of the rectangular room was a spiraling staircase leading up towards more levels of endless books.

"Please sit." Fira invited in the friendliest tone Jack had heard her use since they'd arrived, each obliged and sat around a suddenly appearing round table.

"You said that the Guardians have urgent matters to discuss with me." Fira spoke plainly.

"Yes, are you aware of someone called the Nightmare King?" Asked Tooth.

"Yes, I'm very much aware of his handiwork from last Easter." She replied. Jack flinched and looked at the bristling Bunny across from him.

"Don't know 'ow ye'd be so without yer pride to show ye' face rabbit after tha, no matter 'ow cute and fuzzy ye' think it is." A deep voice commented. Jack watched as Bunny whipped around to glare at whomever had interjected.

Tobias had recently entered the room with an unfamiliar figure behind him, bowing to the side, Tobias revealed a large cat and exited the room closing the heavy marble doors behind him. This was no ordinary cat, this elder cat strode on two legs and wore an ancient expression upon his face. He was only an ear length shorter than Bunny, and his greying snow colored fur was matted giving the feline a rustic look. His pupils differed in color with the left being a golden shade and the right a deep cerulean, a stony persona and deep scars on his furred chest birthed a intimidating aura around his figure.

"And you'd be?" Bunny retorted venomously, obviously annoyed by the cat's previous comment. The ancient feline smirked darkly and turned his attention towards Fira.

"Ye' called for me, dearie?" Although his voice was raspy an underlying paternal tone aimed at the young redhead could be detected.

"Yes, Blon let me introduce you to the Guardians of Childhood; Guardians this is Blon, record keeper of the ages." Blon kept his eyes on Bunny then licked his chops and redirected his gaze to the rest of the Guardians.

Jack continued flickering his eyes to and from Bunny's stressed figure and the mysterious feline record keeper.

"Now, what's it ye' all come ta disturb we good magic folk for, Guardians?" Asked the wizened cat, whose glittering irises revealed his blatant curiosity.

"There's been a message from the Man in the Moon, a prophecy of sorts involving the Nightmare King." Answered Tooth.

"Well dearie, THA be something a'right." Blon absentmindedly commented.

"We believe that-" Tooth continued until to Jack's surprise the old cat began to stare at him and interrupted uncaringly.

"Oi! Now dis 'ere be a strange sight 'deed. Why ain't dis 'ere Jack o' Frost!" Blon gave a mad cackle then continued animatedly. "What's lil' Jack o' Frost doin' 'ere in me palace on 'ere hot rock in de ole sun days? Oh I never woulda thought, Jack 'o Frost bein' 'ere wit Miss Fira 'n' Blaze! Who be pullin ole Blon's tail? I seen me loads of fings never nothing like dis." The mad cat continued to laugh and as Jack looked around the table for some type of safety, and then he met Fira's soft and perplexed eyes.

The cat managed to calm his laughter much to the gratefulness of the uncomfortable Guardians in attendance.

"What's so funny about me being here? I'm not exactly on the same level of weird as a talking cat." Jack commented.

"Guessin' youngins don't do too much star reading 'ese days. Well boy yer in fer quite de treat yes ye' are." The feline replied cryptically totally ignoring Jack's previous statement,

Jack would've replied if not for Fira's deep gaze that seemed to have been locked on his form. Fira quickly resurrected the previous topic of discussion.

"I was left to believe that the Guardians had already dealt with the Nightmare King, why are you bringing this to me now?" North returned with a reply for the fiery girl.

"Because-" before he could complete his thought Blon interrupted North.

"I assume it's der accommodation de' Guardians is providin', checkin' on de other magic folks seein' if is alrite." Fira nodded in understanding at the feline's word. Jack furrowed his brow in confusion, Blon continued to change the subject anytime someone tried to reveal the prophecy.

Jack went over it again and again in his head unable to decipher why Blon continuously ignored the seriousness of the matter. From the expression on North's face he was thinking similarly.

"Miss Blaze, forgive me for interrupting but there seems to be a matter of the utmost importance. A flame has gone awry." A small white owl perched upon Fira's shoulder and whispered into the shell of her ear.

Fira cringed inwardly but otherwise maintained her composure, she would not allow the Guardians to witness any of her shortcomings.

"Thank you, Ira, I will take care of it." The snowy owlet outstretched out its downy wings to fly back to its' roost somewhere in the high columns and pillars of books.

"If you would excuse me, an emergency situation requires my attention. Allow Tobias to keep you company." As if he'd heard his name Tobias appeared with trays of refreshments and more tiny glowing spheres.

"Alright everyone let's not keep our guests waiting!" Tobias cried out, bemused. With a short symphony of claps the small teacups and saucers whizzed towards the table. The small sparks set down the saucers and cakes then flittered back to Tobias.

"What are these things?" Jack asked aloud. One tiny spark had stayed to clean up a small spill from Bunny's tea. It bobbed up and down above the table its' bright yellow light casting a small shadow onto the marble surface.

Tobias returned, "Oh, these little angels? Why, they are the true keepers of this here estate! Created by Miss Blaze herself, I call them Glenlings, aren't they adorable?" Bunny raised a furry brow in disbelief.

As if he could read minds Tobias continued."Don't be confused these aren't just tiny balls of fire. Look closely and you'll see." Jack couldn't contain his curiosity, with a small tap of his staff a clear disk of ice formed in his palm. Lifting it to a bright blue eye, Jack peered down at the glowing orb.

Within the golden radiance was a small person, and like their mistress that had created them, these small people were humans made of fire. Scarlett flesh and golden hair, with sparkling eyes and pixie physiques.

This Glenling was male and appeared to be very angry about being spied on, there were some angry squeaks and then the ice disk was no more. It had been melted into a puddle of warm water.

"Toby, he just-." Jack trailed of perplexed and slightly amused.

"Well there you go again Jack making enemies everywhere." Bunny commented. As always Tooth tried to appease everyone, "I'm sure that's not true, Bunny, the poor thing was probably just scared."

Tobias didn't react to his new nickname or the comments made by the Guardians but he couldn't help but chuckle at Jack.

"Master Frost, meet Hearth the Glenling, a personal favorite of Miss Blaze. He's a hot-tempered one, isn't he?" Jack watched as the small Glenling floated back to Tobias, most likely to complain.

"So they're fairies?" Jack asked.

"Don't let them hear you say that Master Frost, to a Glenling being called a fairy is considered demeaning because-"

"Because they aren't simply tooth couriers, they represent the sparks of imagination and if they aren't recognized as such it means they've failed their purpose." North smiled gently at North's answer, and then looked at him, "I would have never thought a Guardian would understand the mistress' thoughts, forgive me I should not have expected anything less from the Guardian of Wonder." At that moment Fira re-entered through the library's large double doors.

She gave a small, surprised smile when she saw the little Glenlings in the room, the positive feeling was obviously mutual amongst the small creatures as they rushed towards Fira. Surrounding her in a small cloud of light, small squeals and laughter caught Jack's attention; Fira and the Glenlings seemed to be sharing a rather amusing conversation, it was put to an end when Fira sent the Glenlings and Tobias off and turned to the waiting Guardians.

North kept an eye on Jack who was watching curiously, "Took you long enough. You're not exactly the best hostess, are you Fi?" The Fire Spirit in question tensed and a few of the fires in the library flickered black but then regained their normal blue hue.

"Well it's good that my purpose isn't to serve you, Jackie." Fira replied with sarcastic sweetness and a smile. Jack was prepared to answer with another witty remark, but Fira had already gone back to ignoring his existence. The Fire Spirit, now facing North, spoke.

"One of the younglings found this, it seems to still be intact but I don't know if anything important was damaged." She held a small bell in her hand. The burnt metal was dented and the decorative ribbon that was usually tied to the bell was gone, leaving only a red string behind.

"It seems to have survived, only one way to find out." North replied. The old Claus lifted the tiny bell in his large hand to his ear and shook it gently. Jack watched the old man's facial expression suspiciously but North gave nothing away.

"What is it?" Tooth asked softly. Bunny and Sandy waited patiently for North to finish, Fira watched from the corner of her eye and Blon simply listened with his eyes closed. Slowly North stopped shaking the bell and set it gently on the table, "The Guardians are needed, it's Pitch." Each one of the Guardians began to prepare for their return to the North Pole.


End file.
